'Claudia never had affairs or met men online': Heartbroken father prepares for third Christmas without his missing daughter

Claudia Lawrence's bereft father has hit out at claims his daughter met men online as he renews his plea for help to find the missing chef.

As the family prepare to celebrate their third Christmas since the 35-year-old vanished, Peter Lawrence has opened up about the agonising pain of not knowing what happened.

But in an interview with The Sun, the 65-year-old insisted that his daughter never met men on the internet, as has been alleged, and did not have affairs with married men.

Anguish: Peter with his much-loved daughter Claudia Lawrence, before the 35-year-old's mysterious disappearance

Miss Lawrence, from York, did not even have a computer or use Facebook, her agonised father revealed, 1,003 days after his youngest child went missing.

'If Claudia needed to do anything online or had money to transfer, she would come to see me and say, "Dad, can you do this for me?"' he told The Sun, as police investigate a 'significant new lead' in the case.

'She just didn't want know. She did not even have a computer, and did not have Facebook.

'She was certainly not meeting men online.'

Mr Lawrence, wife Joan and their other daughter Ali Sims, 40, will place gifts for their absent loved one under the tree again this year - but they do not expect them to be opened.

The devastated father recalled how he was greeted by the sight of Miss Lawrence's fluffy white slippers lying by the door when he went around to her home after a friend of hers raised the alarm.

'She didn't take her bank card, passport or her driving licence,' he told The Sun. 'Her jewellery was on the chest of drawers and there were plates, probably from supper, in the kitchen sink.

Hunt: Police searching St Nicholas Fields nature reserve in York for the missing chef in 2009. They have now renewed their investigation after a witness came forward

'I've always said he didn't just go off. Her handbag was still on the end of her bed, with the bank card in it.

'Claudia's slippers were by the front door where she had kicked them off to put on her boots for the walk to work.'

Miss Lawrence went missing on March 19, 2009. She was due to start work at York University at 6am, but never turned up.

Mr Lawrence, who is divorced from his daughter's mother, said: 'Christmas is always difficult. It's no longer my favourite time of year. I feel a mixture of joy for my grandchildren and great sadness that Claudia is not with us.

'I've endured so many dark times. There was the day we first learned she had gone and since then awful moments such as every time they find a body or there's information that a body is in a particular place.

'Each time that happens it's a nightmare. It's sheer torture.'

But he added: 'I live in hope. Any
development like this in the search for my daughter is to be welcome.'

North Yorkshire police revealed last week that they had been contacted by a potentially significant witness 'out of the blue.'

Missed: Miss Lawrence's family will put a present under the tree for her this year

The officer leading the search, Detective Superintendent Ray Galloway, phoned Mr Lawrence at his holiday home in south-west France to pass on the promising news.

'My beautiful daughter was taken away and I was so close to her. There will be a present for her — there always is — but the only thing I want is for her to walk through the door.

'I look back at Christmas mornings when she was a little girl. There are so many memories. I miss the joy in her eyes when she saw the presents she'd got.

'It was never a Barbie doll — things like dolls were taboo for Claudia. She was too much of a tomboy for that. She'd want something like a new riding hat or a brush for her pony, Fern.'

Detectives believe she was murdered but Mr Lawrence still has hope that his daughter is alive.

'Somebody out there knows something and it is high time they said something,' he told the newspaper.

He maintains that his daughter would never break up a marriage. Police say she may have been involved with 10 men over five years, but her father insisted that was not a lot.

'I did meet most of them,' he said. 'She did not want to settle down at 35. If they got too serious she would end it.

He added: 'Claudia would never in her life break up somebody's marriage. I think the fact she was so generous with people has been misinterpreted.

'If somebody came up to her and said his marriage had broken down she would not refuse to talk to them.

'She was too soft for her own good.

'She did get a lot of male attention but if anyone spoke to her it was because they had gone up to her and she would never be rude to them.

'She didn't know how attractive she was. She hated having pictures taken because she didn't like the way she looked in them.

Determined: Detective Superintendent Ray Galloway has said there is a significant lead in the case

'I'm drawn, and always have been, to believe she was picked up by someone on her way to work, and someone she recognised because she was a quiet person but she could kick and scream. At that time of morning, somebody would have heard that.'

Mr Lawrence last spoke to his daughter the Wednesday before she went missing, when they arranged to meet for a drink later in the week.

Her mother spoke to her an hour later, as they both watched TV programme Location, Location, Location.

The chef was last seen the night before she disappeared, as she walked home from work. She was expected to have an early night, going to bed at around 9.30pm before her early shift the next day.

The engine had exploded in her Vauxhall Corsa so she would have to leave at 5.30am to start at 6.30am.

Police now plan to make a fresh appeal next week. Up to six officers are still working on the case, which has cost £750,000 so far.

At this time of year, Miss Lawrence would normally volunteer to help the less fortunate.

Her father, who has two grandchildren aged seven and three, said: 'It was, and it is, a nightmare. She was a huge part of my life and now there is a big hole in it.

'Claudia's sister and my grandchildren have got to have Christmas because of the young boys. But at the same time we say to each other, "Where's Claudia? She should be here."'

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Claudia never had affairs or met men online, says her bereft father as police investigate a new lead in the heart-breaking case